The Maghribi Community and the Foundations of Abd al-Qadir’s Authority in Ottoman Syria (1847-1855)
Around the time of Amir Abd al Qadir’s submission to France in December 1847, a caravan of Algerian migrants reached Damascus. In their ranks were prominent Sufi shaykhs and numerous experienced fighters who took part in battles on the side of the well known Amir. Among them, Ahmed Bin Salim was one of the chosen khalifa of Abd al-Qadir and his political authority was not to be extinguished with his migration to the East. On the contrary, he had power over the whole community of the refugees in Syria. The Ottomans designated Bin Salim as the sole authority of the « Algerians », contributing to define a sense of identity constructed in opposition to France or in rejection of its protection. Ahmad Bin Salim was followed by a community that integrated various spheres of Ottoman Syria’s society. Religious activities and warfare were the best means for the newly arrived population to build an extensive network with Damascus as its center. Using especially Ottoman documents but also French and British archives, I will show to what extent the Maghribi community was established before Abd al-Qadir’s settlement in Damascus. I will also demonstrate that the « ex Amir » was in communication with his compatriots in Syria when he was retained in Bursa. The colonial narrative of this sequence of Abd al-Qadir’s life tended to ignore the background that existed and contributed to give him an authority that, coupled with his prestige, his religious science and his ties with the French government was to shape a new type of notable in Ottoman Syria.